Virtual dental operatory

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention include methods, devices, and systems that light and magnify a treatment site within the oral cavity without interfering with a dental treatment procedure. In particular, example embodiments of the present invention provide a virtual operatory system that includes an image capture subsystem connected to an image display subsystem. For example, the image capture subsystem can capture and communicate a live image of a treatment site to the image display subsystem for the dental professional to view while performing a dental treatment procedure. In at least one example embodiment, the virtual operatory system can also include an image rendering subsystem that can render the live image of the treatment site in one or more ways to provide an improved visual to the dental professional of the treatment site.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/353,614, filed Jun. 10, 2010, the content of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of dental operatory and moreparticularly relates to devices, systems and methods of providingvirtual live views of a treatment site.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The modern dental operatory is centered on an adjustable dental chair.The dental chair has the purpose of providing the patient with acomfortable seat while at the same time allowing the dental professionalto maneuver the dental chair in multiple directions to provide easieraccess to the patient's oral cavity. For example, a dental professionalcan recline, rise, lower, or spin the dental chair in order to maneuverthe patient to allow the dental professional the best access to thepatient's oral cavity to perform dental treatment procedures.

Although the dental chair can assist the dental professional in gainingaccess to the patient's oral cavity, the oral cavity is generally asmall area in which it is difficult to perform dental treatmentprocedures. For example, dental treatment procedures usually includeperforming high tolerance procedures on a very small scale. Due to thehigh tolerances and small scale of most dental treatment procedures,dental professionals usually try to use some form of magnification toenhance their ability to perform the dental treatment procedure. Thenature of the dental cavity, however, often makes it very difficult fora dental professional to use magnification tools effectively. Forexample, many dental professionals may use magnification lenses that mayattach to a pair of conventional glasses and are hand adjustable. Themagnification lenses, however, are usually heavy and are an annoyancewhen worn for long periods of time

In addition to the small scale of dental treatment procedures, the oralcavity is generally a dark area, which further increases the challengesassociated with performing dental treatment procedures. In particular,most dental professionals now use a high-powered overhead light to floodthe oral cavity with light to help the dental professional adequatelysee the treatment site. Although the high-powered lights help providelight within the oral cavity, many time the dental professional's handsor tools block the light, thus limiting the effectiveness of thehigh-powered light.

What is needed in the art are systems, devices and methods that easilyallow a dental professional to light and magnify a treatment site withinthe oral cavity without interfering with the dental treatment procedure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention include methods, devices, andsystems that light and magnify a treatment site within the oral cavitywithout interfering with a dental treatment procedure. In particular,example embodiments of the present invention provide a virtual operatorysystem that includes an image capture subsystem connected to an imagedisplay subsystem. For example, the image capture subsystem can captureand communicate a live image of a treatment site to the image displaysubsystem for the dental professional to view while performing a dentaltreatment procedure. In at least one example embodiment, the virtualoperatory system can also include an image rendering subsystem that canrender the live image of the treatment site in one or more ways toprovide an improved visual to the dental professional of the treatmentsite.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. Thefeatures and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained bymeans of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. These and other features of the present inventionwill become more fully apparent from the following description andappended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention asset forth hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and otheradvantages and features of the invention can be obtained, a moreparticular description of the invention briefly described above will berendered by reference to specific example implementations thereof whichare illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only typical implementations of the invention and arenot therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, theinvention will be described and explained with additional specificityand detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates various exemplary devices and components of a virtualdental operatory system;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary implementation of the system of FIG. 1according to principles described herein;

FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary components of an image capture subsystemaccording to principles described herein;

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary components of an image rendering subsystemaccording to principles described herein;

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary components of an image display subsystemaccording to principles described herein;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method of performing virtual dentaloperatory; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an example computing device according to principlesdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention include methods, devices, andsystems that light and magnify a treatment site within the oral cavitywithout interfering with a dental treatment procedure. In particular,example embodiments of the present invention provide a virtual operatorysystem that includes an image capture subsystem connected to an imagedisplay subsystem. For example, the image capture subsystem can captureand communicate a live image of a treatment site to the image displaysubsystem for the dental professional to view while performing a dentaltreatment procedure. In at least one example embodiment, the virtualoperatory system can also include an image rendering subsystem that canrender the live image of the treatment site in one or more ways toprovide an improved visual to the dental professional of the treatmentsite.

As will be further explained below, the virtual dental operatory systemallows the treatment site located within an oral cavity of a patient tobe magnified without having to use heavy bulky optical magnifiers thatare often uncomfortable to wear. Moreover, the virtual dental operatorysystem can provide an image where the treatment site is lighted well, orat least where the image of the treatment site is rendered such that thetreatment site appears lighted. Furthermore, the virtual dentaloperatory system is configured such that the dental professional canperform the procedure minimizing the opportunity for the dentalprofessional or the dental professional's tools to block the lightingeffect.

FIG. 1 illustrates one example embodiment of a virtual dental operatorysystem 100. As used herein, operatory means any dental procedure,including but not limited to removal of cavity, adding fillings, rootcanals, bridges, orthodontics, surgery, and/or any or all treatmentsthat take place around or within the oral cavity. As illustrated in FIG.1, the virtual dental operatory system 100 can be arranged andconfigured to cooperate with a standard dental chair wherein a patient102 sits while a dental professional 104 performs a dental treatmentprocedure. Although FIG. 1 illustrates one arrangement, the virtualdental operatory system 100 can be arranged in almost any arrangement aswill be described further below.

Figure one illustrates that the virtual dental operatory system 100 caninclude an image capture subsystem 200. As illustrated in FIG. 1, theimage capture subsystem 200 is configured to capture an image of atreatment site and communicate that image to various other subsystemswithin the virtual dental operatory system 100. In particular, the imagecapture subsystem 200 can be configured to capture and communicate alive video image of a treatment site.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, portions of the image capture subsystem 200can be mounted to a wall or ceiling by way of an adjustable mountingsystem 106 that allows the dental professional 104 to position the imagecapture subsystem 200 in the best location to capture the best image. Inalternative embodiments, portions of the image capture subsystem 200 canbe located directly on dental tools that the dental professional isusing, for example, a dental drill housing or similar dental tool.Alternatively, portions of the image capture subsystem 200 can be a freestanding hand held tool that a dental assistant can maneuver andposition while the dental professional 104 performs a dental treatmentprocedure.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image capture subsystem can capture an image ofat least a portion of the patient's 102 oral cavity 110. The imagecapture subsystem can then communicate the image of the oral cavity 110to an image display subsystem 400 a and/or 400 b such that the dentalprofessional can view the image during the dental procedure. Forexample, FIG. 1 illustrates that that part of the image displaysubsystem 400 a and/or 400 b may include a monitor that is mounted to awall or ceiling by way of an adjustable mounting system 108 that allowsthe dental professional to maneuver the monitor to almost any positionor location. As illustrated, the monitor can display a virtual view 112of the treatment site within the oral cavity 110. In an alternative, orin the same embodiment, the image display subsystem 400 a and/or 400 bcan include goggles that include a display that allows the dentalprofessional 104 to view the virtual view 112 of the treatment sitewithin the oral cavity by wearing the goggles. These and othercomponents will be explained in more detail below with reference toFIGS. 2 through 5.

In addition to the various example components and subsystems illustratedin FIG. 1, FIG. 2 further illustrates an example embodiment of thevirtual dental operatory system 100. As discussed above with referenceto FIG. 1, the virtual dental operatory system 100 can include the imagecapture subsystem 200 that can capture an image of a treatment areawithin a patient's oral cavity to produce a captured image.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image capture subsystem 200 can becommunicably connected to an image rendering subsystem 300. The imagecapture subsystem 200 can communicate the captured image to the imagerendering subsystem 300. After receiving the captured image, the imagerendering subsystem 300 can apply one or more rendering routines to thecaptured image to produce a rendered image.

As further illustrated in FIG. 2, the image rendering subsystem 300 canbe communicably connected to an image display subsystem 400. Inparticular, the image rendering subsystem 300 can communicate therendered image to the image display subsystem 400. After receiving therendered image, the image display subsystem 400 can display the renderedimage on one or more image display devices.

The image capture subsystem 200, the image rendering subsystem 300 andthe image display subsystem 400 (the “subsystems”) can communicate usingany suitable communication technologies, devices, networks, media, andprotocols supportive of remote data communications. For example, thesubsystems can communicate over a network using any communicationplatforms and technologies suitable for transporting captured imagesand/or communication signals, including known communicationtechnologies, devices, transmission media, and protocols supportive ofremote data communications, examples of which include, but are notlimited to, data transmission media, communications devices,Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”), Internet Protocol (“IP”), FileTransfer Protocol (“FTP”), Telnet, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”),Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (“HTTPS”), Session InitiationProtocol (“SIP”), Simple Object Access Protocol (“SOAP”), ExtensibleMark-up Language (“XML”) and variations thereof, Simple Mail TransferProtocol (“SMTP”), Real-Time Transport Protocol (“RTP”), User DatagramProtocol (“UDP”), Global System for Mobile Communications (“GSM”)technologies, Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”) technologies,Evolution Data Optimized Protocol (“EVDO”), Time Division MultipleAccess (“TDMA”) technologies, radio frequency (“RF”) signalingtechnologies, wireless communication technologies (e.g., Bluetooth,Wi-Fi, etc.), optical transport and signaling technologies, livetransmission technologies (e.g., media streaming technologies), mediafile transfer technologies, in-band and out-of-band signalingtechnologies, and other suitable communications technologies.

Moreover, the network may include one or more networks or types ofnetworks (and communication links thereto) capable of carryingcommunications, captured images, and/or data signals between thesubsystems. For example, the network may include, but is not limited to,one or more wireless networks, cable networks, hybrid fiber coaxnetworks, optical fiber networks, broadband networks, narrowbandnetworks, the Internet, wide area networks, local area networks, publicnetworks, private networks, packet-switched networks, and any othernetworks capable of carrying data and/or communications signals betweenthe subsystems. Communications between the subsystems may be transportedusing any one of above-listed networks, or any combination orsub-combination of the above-listed networks.

The various subsystems illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 can each includevarious facilities that assist the various subsystems in performingvarious tasks within the virtual dental operatory system 100. Forexample, FIG. 3 illustrates on example of the image capture subsystem200. As illustrated, the image capture subsystem 200 can include acapture facility 202. The capture facility 202 can include any devicesthat provide for the capture of an image, and in particular, the captureof a live video image.

For example, the capture facility 202 can include a camera. In oneembodiment, the camera can be a live feed auto-focus camera. The cameracan have various optical magnification lenses to provide opticalmagnification of the treatment site. For example, a camera such as theSONY ALPHA A350 is a camera with live feed and auto focus capabilities.

The capture facility can be configured to focus on a particularinstrument such that the camera's focus automatically adjusts dependingon the location of the particular instrument within the oral cavity.This feature can be provided by image recognition routines that are partof the capture facility 202.

The image capture subsystem 200 can further include a communicationfacility 204. Communication facility 204 may be configured to facilitatecommunication between the image capture subsystem and the imagerendering subsystem 300 and/or the image display subsystem 400. Inparticular, communication facility 204 may be configured to transmitand/or receive communication signals, captured images, metadata and/orany other data to/from the image capture subsystem 200. For example,communication facility 204 may transmit data representative of one ormore captured images to the image rendering subsystem 300.

Data representative of captured images may be transmitted in one or moremedia content streams, as one or more data files, or in any othersuitable manner as may serve a particular implementation. Communicationfacility 204 may be configured to interface with any suitablecommunication media, protocols, and formats, including any of thosementioned above.

In addition to the communication facility 204, the image capturesubsystem 200 can include a storage facility 206. Storage facility 206may be configured to maintain captured data 208 representative of one ormore captured images. It will be recognized that storage facility 208may maintain additional or alternative data as may serve a particularimplementation. In one example, the captured data can be used by thedentist to demonstrate a particular procedure to another patient,insurance company, or keep it on file for other purposes, such as if aparticular procedure fails then the dentist can review the procedure inan attempt to identify the cause of failure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example embodiment of the image renderingsubsystem 300. The image rendering subsystem 300 can include a renderingfacility 302 configured to perform one or more rendering routines on thecaptured image. The rendering routines can perform digital enhancementsthat render or change the captured image to a rendered image. Therendering or changes to the captured image can enhance the capturedimage in one or more ways such that resulting rendered image allows thedental professional a superior view or visual access to the treatmentsite.

For example, rendering routines performed on the captured image canmagnify, brighten, increase/decrease contrast, enlarge, zoom in, zoomout, provide a three-dimension model, change colors, add lightingeffects and/or change or render the captured image in any way to producea customized rendered image for the dental professionals use.

The image rendering subsystem 300 can include a user input interfacethat allows the dental professional to customize the rendered image byinputting rendering specifications. The rendering facility can beprovided with pre-set rendering routines that easily allow the dentalprofessional to render the captured image in a preset way and also beable to switch back and forth between two or more pre-set renderingroutines during a procedure.

The image rendering subsystem 300 can further include a communicationfacility 304. Communication facility 304 may be configured to facilitatecommunication between the image rendering subsystem 300 and the imagecapture subsystem 200 and/or the image display subsystem 400. Inparticular, communication facility 304 may be configured to transmitand/or receive communication signals, captured images, metadata and/orany other data to/from the image rendering subsystem 300. For example,communication facility 304 may transmit data representative of one ormore rendered images to the image display subsystem 400.

Data representative of rendered images may be transmitted in one or moremedia content streams, as one or more data files, or in any othersuitable manner as may serve a particular implementation. Communicationfacility 304 may be configured to interface with any suitablecommunication media, protocols, and formats, including any of thosementioned above.

In addition to the communication facility 304, the image renderingsubsystem 300 can include a storage facility 306. Storage facility 306may be configured to maintain rendered data 308 representative of one ormore rendered images. It will be recognized that storage facility 308may maintain additional or alternative data as may serve a particularimplementation. In one example, the rendered data 308 can be used by thedentist to demonstrate a particular procedure to another patient,insurance company, or keep it on file for other purposes, such as if aparticular procedure fails then the dentist can review the rendered datain an attempt to identify the cause of failure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example embodiment of the image display subsystem400. For example, the image display subsystem 400 can include apresentation facility 402. The presentation facility has the ability touse data received from either the image capture subsystem 200 or theimage rendering subsystem 300 and create a visual depiction of thetreatment site.

For example, the presentation facility 400 can include a monitor orprojector that displays a visual depiction of the treatment site. Inanother example, the presentation facility 400 can include goggles(e.g., virtual reality goggles) that are capable of producing a visualdepiction of the treatment site to the wearer of the goggles. In oneembodiment, the goggles can be TECHWOOD TG-06V IC Goggles from WELTONELECTRONICS. The goggles can be worn like traditional glasses or goggleswith the depiction of the treatment site viewed directly through thegoggles.

With the goggles, or the monitor, the dental professional can perform adental procedure on the patient, while directly monitoring an enhancedview of the dental procedure through the virtual operatory system 100.Thus, the dental professional is provided with a superior view of theoral cavity during the procedure (including magnification and lightingeffects).

The image display subsystem 400 can further include a communicationfacility 404. Communication facility 404 may be configured to facilitatecommunication between the image display subsystem 400 and the imagecapture subsystem 200 and/or the image rendering subsystem 300. Inparticular, communication facility 404 may be configured to transmitand/or receive communication signals, captured images, rendered images,metadata and/or any other data to/from the image display subsystem 400.For example, communication facility 404 may receive data representativeof one or more rendered images from the image rendering subsystem 300.

Data representative of rendered images may be transmitted in one or moremedia content streams, as one or more data files, or in any othersuitable manner as may serve a particular implementation. Communicationfacility 404 may be configured to interface with any suitablecommunication media, protocols, and formats, including any of thosementioned above.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method 600 of virtual dental operatory.While FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary steps according to one embodiment,other embodiments may omit, add to, reorder, and/or modify any of thesteps shown in FIG. 6. The steps shown in FIG. 6 may be performed by anycomponent or combination of components of the virtual dental operatorysystem 100.

In step 602, an image representative of a treatment site in a patient'soral cavity is captured during the performance of a dental treatmentprocedure to produce a captured image. To illustrate, FIG. 3 illustratesthat the image capture subsystem 200 can include the capture facilitythat is configured to capture an image of the treatment site. Forexample, a camera or similar image capturing device can be used tocapture the image.

In step 604, the captured image is rendered to enhance the visualproperties of treatment site to produce a rendered image. To illustrate,FIG. 4 illustrates that the image rendering subsystem 300 can include arendering facility that is configured to apply one or more renderingroutines to the captured image to produce a rendered image that isenhanced and customized to provide a superior visual depiction of thetreatment site.

In step 606, the rendered image is displayed to the dental professionalduring the performance of the dental treatment procedure. To illustrate,FIG. 5 illustrates that the image display subsystem 400 can include apresentation facility that is configured to display the rendered image.For example, virtual reality goggles can be used to display the renderedimage to the dental professional.

In certain embodiments, one or more of the components and/or processesdescribed herein may be implemented and/or performed by one or moreappropriately configured computing devices. To this end, one or more ofthe systems and/or components described above may include or beimplemented by any computer hardware and/or computer-implementedinstructions (e.g., software), or combinations of computer-implementedinstructions and hardware, configured to perform one or more of theprocesses described herein. In particular, system components may beimplemented on one physical computing device or may be implemented onmore than one physical computing device. Accordingly, system componentsmay include any number of computing devices, and may employ any of anumber of computer operating systems.

In certain embodiments, one or more of the processes described hereinmay be implemented at least in part as instructions executable by one ormore computing devices. In general, a processor (e.g., a microprocessor)receives instructions, from a tangible computer-readable medium, (e.g.,a memory, etc.), and executes those instructions, thereby performing oneor more processes, including one or more of the processes describedherein. Such instructions may be stored and/or transmitted using any ofa variety of known computer-readable media.

A computer-readable medium (also referred to as a processor-readablemedium) includes any medium that participates in providing data (e.g.,instructions) that may be read by a computer (e.g., by a processor of acomputer). Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limitedto, non-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile media mayinclude, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistentmemory. Volatile media may include, for example, dynamic random accessmemory (“DRAM”), which typically constitutes a main memory. Common formsof computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, flexibledisk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM,DVD, any other optical medium, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM,any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other tangible medium fromwhich a computer may read.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary computing device 700 that may beconfigured to perform one or more of the processes described herein. Asshown in FIG. 7, computing device 700 may include a communicationinterface 702, a processor 704, a storage device 706, and aninput/output (“I/O”) module 708 communicatively connected via acommunication infrastructure 710. While an exemplary computing device700 is shown in FIG. 7, the components illustrated in FIG. 7 are notintended to be limiting. Additional or alternative components may beused in other embodiments. Components of computing device 700 shown inFIG. 7 will now be described in additional detail.

Communication interface 702 may be configured to communicate with one ormore computing devices. Examples of communication interface 702 include,without limitation, a wired network interface (such as a networkinterface card), a wireless network interface (such as a wirelessnetwork interface card), a modem, and any other suitable interface. Inat least one embodiment, communication interface 702 may provide adirect connection between system 100 and one or more of provisioningsystems via a direct link to a network, such as the Internet.Communication interface 702 may additionally or alternatively providesuch a connection through, for example, a local area network (such as anEthernet network), a personal area network, a telephone or cablenetwork, a satellite data connection, a dedicated URL, or any othersuitable connection. Communication interface 702 may be configured tointerface with any suitable communication media, protocols, and formats,including any of those mentioned above.

Processor 704 generally represents any type or form of processing unitcapable of processing data or interpreting, executing, and/or directingexecution of one or more of the instructions, processes, and/oroperations described herein. Processor 704 may direct execution ofoperations in accordance with one or more applications 712 or othercomputer-executable instructions such as may be stored in storage device706 or another computer-readable medium.

Storage device 706 may include one or more data storage media, devices,or configurations and may employ any type, form, and combination of datastorage media and/or device. For example, storage device 706 mayinclude, but is not limited to, a hard drive, network drive, flashdrive, magnetic disc, optical disc, random access memory (“RAM”),dynamic RAM (“DRAM”), other non-volatile and/or volatile data storageunits, or a combination or sub-combination thereof. Electronic data,including data described herein, may be temporarily and/or permanentlystored in storage device 706. For example, data representative of one ormore executable applications 712 (which may include, but are not limitedto, one or more of the software applications described herein)configured to direct processor 704 to perform any of the operationsdescribed herein may be stored within storage device 706. In someexamples, data may be arranged in one or more databases residing withinstorage device 706.

I/O module 708 may be configured to receive user input and provide useroutput and may include any hardware, firmware, software, or combinationthereof supportive of input and output capabilities. For example, I/Omodule 708 may include hardware and/or software for capturing userinput, including, but not limited to, a keyboard or keypad, a touchscreen component (e.g., touch screen display), a receiver (e.g., an RFor infrared receiver), and/or one or more input buttons.

I/O module 708 may include one or more devices for presenting output toa user, including, but not limited to, a graphics engine, a display(e.g., a display screen, one or more output drivers (e.g., displaydrivers), one or more audio speakers, and one or more audio drivers. Incertain embodiments, I/O module 708 is configured to provide graphicaldata to a display for presentation to a user. The graphical data may berepresentative of one or more graphical user interfaces and/or any othergraphical content as may serve a particular implementation.

In some examples, any of the facilities described herein may beimplemented by or within one or more components of computing device 700.For example, one or more applications 712 residing within storage device706 may be configured to direct processor 704 to perform one or moreprocesses or functions associated with capture facility 202,communication facility 204, rendering facility 302, communicationfacility 304, presentation facility 402, and/or communication facility404. Likewise, storage facilities 206 and/or 306 may be implemented byor within storage device 706.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedimplementations are to be considered in all respects only asillustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is,therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A virtual dental operatory system, comprising: acapture facility configured to capture an image of a treatment sitewithin a patient's oral cavity resulting in a captured image, wherein atleast a portion of the capture facility is located on a hand held tool;a rendering facility communicatively coupled to the capture facility andconfigured to: receive the captured image; and apply one or morerendering routines to the captured image resulting in a rendered image;and wherein the rendering facility is provided with preset renderingroutines that easily allow a dental professional to render the capturedimage in a preset way and also be able to switch back and forth betweentwo or more preset rendering routines during a procedure; a presentationfacility comprising virtual reality goggles communicatively coupled tothe rendering facility and configured to display the rendered image to adental professional while performing a dental procedure, and wherein,the rendered image represents a live view of the treatment site duringthe dental procedure.
 2. The system recited in claim 1, wherein thecapture facility includes a camera.
 3. The system recited in claim 2,wherein the camera is an autofocus camera.
 4. The system recited inclaim 3, wherein the camera has a variety of optical magnification. 5.The system recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more renderingroutines applied to the captured image include adding a lighting effect.6. The system recited in claim 4, wherein the one or more renderingroutines applied to the captured image include adding a magnificationeffect.
 7. The system recited in claim 4, wherein the one or morerendering routines applied to the captured image include selecting aportion of the captured image focusing on the selected portion.
 8. Thesystem recited in claim 1, wherein the presentation facility includes amonitor that displays the rendered image.
 9. A method comprising:capturing an image representative of a treatment site in a patient'soral cavity with an image capture system wherein at least a portion ofthe image capture system is located directly on a dental tool that adental professional is using during the performance of a dentaltreatment procedure to produce a captured image; rendering the capturedimage with preset rendering routines to enhance the visual properties ofthe treatment site to produce a rendered image and switching back andforth between two or more of the preset rendering routines during aprocedure; and displaying the rendered image to the dental professionalduring the performance of the dental treatment procedure with virtualreality goggles.
 10. The method recited in claim 9, wherein thecapturing of the image is provided by a digital camera.
 11. The methodrecited in claim 9, wherein the displaying of the rendered image isfurther provided by a monitor.
 12. The method recited in claim 9,wherein the rendering the captured image includes adding lightingeffects to the captured image.
 13. The method recited in claim 9,wherein the rendering the captured image includes magnification of thecaptured image.